1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of product evaluation by consumers. More particularly, the invention provides a method for gauging consumer snack food product preferences among family members via a test method which parallels ordinary purchase-making decision processes.
2. Description of the Background Art
There are numerous methods known in the art for evaluating products, including food products, by members of the consuming public. These methods primarily gauge illicit behavior, namely, the instantaneous reaction to the test product, or preference of one product over another, as reported by the test panel member. One such type of evaluation is known as a "shopping mall survey," wherein shoppers are intercepted in a shopping mall or other appropriate location and asked if they are willing to participate in a survey. The willing respondents are first shown a picture of an advertisement of the product for which a survey is taken. After the respondent has examined the picture, respondent is asked questions relating to the product in the picture. The respondent may be asked to sample one or more products and report their reactions to the survey taker.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,913 discloses a procedure for conducting a survey by mail which substantially duplicates the results obtained in a shopping mall survey.
Other evaluation methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,157 relating to a survey data collecting system, U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,699 relating a multi-page promotional article including coupons, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,990 relating to a multiple value coupon system.
Another product evaluation procedure is the blind taste test. Participants sample one or more products without being told the brand identity thereof, and reactions and/or preferences are recorded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,381 discloses a method for effecting sensory evaluation of a product by a sensory evaluation panelist. This method involves monitoring selected parameters of a sensory evaluation panelist, communicating a sequence of instructions and prompts to the panelist, coordinating the sequence of instructions and prompts to the sensory evaluation panelist and receiving a sensory evaluation rating from the panelist.
The prior art food product evaluation methods suffer from a variety of deficiencies. Notably, such procedures fail to provide a means for evaluating the subjects' preferences in comparison to many competitive products, as judged by consumption behavior. Thus, while a shopping mall survey or the like can provide information that at a given time a given number of cola drinkers prefer brand A over brand B, such a test method cannot judge product preferences among a large sample of competitive beverages and cannot track the longevity of and changes in such preferences. Survey-type tests usually are conducted in an environment quite foreign to the home environment, where many product preferences and purchase decisions are made. Such procedures fail to recognize the important impact of various family members on the purchase-making decision, as well as the impact of television advertising.
Another failing in the prior art test methods is their inability to track consumer preferences over a period of time. While the passer-by may exhibit a preference for one product over another, such initial or instantaneous preference says nothing regarding a product's "sustainability," i.e., it's ability to generate loyalty and hence repeat purchases among a segment of the consuming public.
Other failings of prior product evaluation methods include their inability to provide (1) meaningful baseline data concerning the product preferences and consumption history of the test panel members and (2) meaningful information regarding which family members make purchasing decisions so that product promotion can be effectively targeted.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for improved methods for effecting evaluation of consumer products by test panel members.